Black Lotus Female Lead, Don’t Love Me Too Much - Chapter 5

The moment the blood-stained garment appeared, the mood of the senior brothers visibly darkened. Those who had previously been deceived by Lu Xiangyu’s feigned performance now lowered their heads to wipe away tears.

“Senior Brother Zeng… rest in peace.”

Affected by the atmosphere of the group, some of the children began to sob softly as well.

“…” Lu Xiangyu didn’t cry. Her face was wooden; she was still thinking about the grilled fish and felt as if a bone were stuck in her throat. However, no one was paying attention to her right now.

At the center of the event, Song Shenshi stowed away the storage bag and sighed softly. Having composed her emotions, she spoke with a hint of sorrowful indifference.

“Senior Brother Zeng perished along with the Ghost King. His body was tainted by demonic energy, so out of necessity, I could only recover his clothing. Upon our return to the sect, I will personally build a cenotaph for him on Clear Water Peak to honor his soul in heaven.”

“Senior Brother… Senior Brother suffered so much.” A young sword cultivator from Clear Water Peak was deeply moved and burst into loud sobs.

Song Shenshi waited patiently until the crying subsided. “That Ghost King’s cultivation was originally on par with Senior Brother Zeng’s. It’s just that before the assassination, Senior Brother didn’t know that the head of the Twelve Ghost Kings also possessed a True Demon Body.”

“…” Lu Xiangyu watched her silently.

Song Shenshi’s lie was seamless. Without a shred of moral guilt, she had deceived her fellow disciples of the Haiqian Sect.

“Judging by the residual demonic energy on Senior Brother’s remains, that Ghost King possessed the body of a Pleasure Demon. She had cultivated it for many years and was not fond of slaughter, but rather of beauty; the Canglang Town massacre was not her doing. And now, I have already obliterated her fleeing remnant form.”

Song Shenshi added, “If there are other Ghost Kings cultivating True Demon bodies, I am unaware of it.”

The crowd fell silent. Yu Ming pondered for a long time.

“We are close to Qitian Town now,” he said in a heavy voice. “If you junior brothers have other urgent missions, return to the sect first. If you have time, stay with me in Qitian Town for a few days to keep watch.”

And so, while twelve senior brothers were originally supposed to disembark, now only nine did.

Lu Xiangyu felt her efforts weren’t entirely in vain. Stroking her chin, she thought: Will this cause some kind of butterfly effect? The female lead didn’t even participate, so probably not…

…

As the flying ship delved deep into the mountain mists, time seemed to stand still within the cabin. The exhausted children drifted off to sleep, and even the cultivators, feeling a wave of weariness, closed their eyes to rest.

Realizing the entertainment was over, Lu Xiangyu—perhaps feeling restless or simply excited by the new environment—leaned against the side, peering out through a small gap in the cabin wall.

Emerald mountains and rivers, vast stretches of fields, people and birds like tiny black dots, the sound of chirping, the roar of rushing waterfalls, and farmers working in the fields looking up at the ship with cries of wonder. Smoke curled up from the towns—a world of mortal dust, a realm of its own.

It would be so nice to go down there and play… Lu Xiangyu sighed inwardly.

Before long, the ship entered the high mountain pine forests; they had arrived.

The ship docked at a plain at the foot of the mountain, where many outer sect disciples were waiting to handle routine maintenance. Everyone disembarked at the perimeter, and three senior brothers from the Array Division used their disciple tokens to activate the teleportation array. In a flash of spiritual light, they found themselves in the bustling Songshan Haiqian Sect.

Lu Xiangyu felt a bit dazed. The place was very spacious, featuring a large open clearing. A plaque bearing the Haiqian Sect runes stood at the head of the mountain path; it depicted ocean waves with a three-dimensional diamond pattern floating above. This same motif was embroidered on the robes of the Haiqian Sect disciples.

The plaza was crowded. Nearby stood four prominent tall buildings, the closest being the Internal Affairs Hall and the Recruitment Hall. Several disciples had been waiting in front of the Internal Affairs Hall for a long time; seeing the group arrive, they hurried over.

“…” Lu Xiangyu rubbed her eyes.

If she wasn’t mistaken, those two had been dozing off under the eaves. When they saw the group suddenly teleport in, they immediately jumped up, straightened their robes to put on their “sect disciple” airs, and then, catching sight of a certain someone in the crowd, abandoned all dignity and sprinted over just to be the first to talk to Song Shenshi.

Heh, men.

Lu Xiangyu sneered inwardly as the two reached Song Shenshi. She cast a sidelong glance at them.

They were merely plain-looking, low-cultivation extras, yet Song Shenshi showed no self-awareness of being the protagonist. She responded to their nonsense very gracefully, chatting for quite a while before getting to the point.

“These two senior brothers are from the Internal Affairs Hall. These children were rescued by the senior brothers behind me.” Seeing that enough time had passed, Song Shenshi prompted them to get to work.

“Oh, right, right. Junior Sister, Senior Brother Yu’s message already explained the situation. We are here to take the children to the back mountain hot springs for cleansing and healing, and to find a place for them to settle down.” The two senior brothers scratched the backs of their heads sheepishly.

The children were led away by the disciples from the Internal Affairs Hall. The others exchanged a few pleasantries before going their separate ways.

Only Lu Xiangyu was left. She had just met the female lead’s icy gaze and was feeling surprised when she saw a tall figure in white approaching. Song Shenshi reverted to her calm and tolerant expression; it was as if Lu Xiangyu’s previous observation had been an illusion.

“…” Lu Xiangyu scratched her head inwardly, confused.

However, when she saw the newcomer’s face, she understood.

Like Song Shenshi, this person was not wearing the Haiqian Sect’s Daoist robes but was dressed in white. A disciple token hung at his waist. He was tall and elegant, with his smooth long hair tied back. He walked over leisurely with his hands behind his back, exuding a truly immortal and transcendental aura.

“Junior Sister.”

“Senior Brother Li.”

They stood a short distance apart.

Handsome man, beautiful woman, mutual respect. Lu Xiangyu evaluated them internally.

She slightly regretted backing away so far; now she couldn’t see their attractive faces clearly. Ah, after being transmigrated for so long, she finally got to “eat well” (enjoy some eye candy).

She remembered that the female lead had three notable male companions in the Haiqian Sect, and the Li Wenran before her was one of them. Moreover, this one was to Lu Xiangyu’s liking, definitely ranking in the top three of the female lead’s harem—well, at least in the “Lu family” rankings. In the original book, the throne of the “Harem Master” hadn’t even been decided yet, and Song Shenshi hadn’t even given away her first kiss.

Lu Xiangyu shook her head regretfully.

But things were different now. Although Senior Brother Li was refined and physically frail—having failed to keep up with the female lead’s pace in immortal forging for a long time—it didn’t stop him from being able to “eat soft rice” (rely on a powerful woman)!

“Senior Brother Li, I will help you.”

Lu Xiangyu clenched her fist with burning fighting spirit and a determined gaze. In her eyes, whatever those two were saying no longer mattered. They must have feelings for each other but simply hadn’t broken the “window paper” (revealed the truth) yet. It didn’t matter; that bittersweet distance of “I love you but we are just fellow disciples” was like an orange that had turned yellow on the outside but wasn’t yet ripe. She lived for this stuff.

“You are Junior Sister Xiao Yu?” A female voice interrupted Lu Xiangyu’s fan-fiction delusions.

She snapped back to reality. Earlier, fearing she might be silenced by the female lead, she had scurried over to the base of the Internal Affairs Hall. A female disciple was guarding the entrance; she looked quite young and wore the outer sect uniform.

The girl was holding a bowl of melon seeds, cracking them and spitting the shells onto the ground. she glanced at Lu Xiangyu, then toward the striking pair in the plaza. Taking advantage of the girl’s distracted state, Lu Xiangyu swiped a large handful of seeds from her bowl.

“That’s Senior Sister Song and Senior Brother Li. Miao Jiu hasn’t seen them in a long time. Senior Sister Song is so beautiful, and Senior Brother Li is so handsome. If only I could have a husband like Senior Brother Li in the future…” Junior Sister Miao was lost in her own daydream, forgetting to eat her seeds.

Lu Xiangyu stole another large handful and stuffed them into her pocket. Miao Jiu’s bowl was now almost empty.

See, it wasn’t just her. In the eyes of others, those two were a match made in heaven. Despite the crowded plaza, a unique, soft aura seemed to surround only them. If Li Wenran were to give up his pursuit of the sword and focus entirely on wooing the female lead, even if he were mocked for “eating soft rice” (relying on her)…

“Junior Sister Xiao Yu, I heard you were also rescued by Senior Sister Song.” Miao Jiu’s voice suddenly turned sorrowful.

“Yeah, something like that…” Lu Xiangyu replied.

“The senior brother in front of Senior Sister Song is Senior Brother Li Wenran. They both study under Elder Xiao of Clear Water Peak… they’ve been practicing the sword together for many years.”

“Mhm, mhm.” Lu Xiangyu nodded vigorously, wondering what was up with this little sister. Aren’t we supposed to be shipping this CP together?

Miao Jiu seemed utterly miserable, overwhelmed by a sudden shift in emotion. Not noticing when her bowl of seeds had gone empty, she set it down haphazardly on the counter behind her, turned away, and wiped her tears.

“Junior Sister, you…” Lu Xiangyu began to ask cautiously.

“What ‘Junior Sister’? Call me ‘Senior Sister’! I, Miao Jiu, joined the sect before you. Show some respect!”

“Alright, alright, Little Senior Sister. What are you so sad about?”

“I… I’m not sad,” Miao Jiu seemed to find it difficult to speak, but being a young girl who had finally met a kindred spirit, she whispered to Lu Xiangyu, “…I like Senior Brother Li.”

“…” She knew it!

“Am I terrible?” Miao Jiu grew more distressed as she spoke. “Senior Sister Song was the one who picked me up; without her, I might have lost my life. She’s so beautiful, like a gentle fairy from the heavens, and she often comes to the Internal Affairs Hall to bring me food. She’s so kind… how could I possibly like Senior Brother Li…” At this point, Miao Jiu couldn’t control her emotions and began to cry. Lu Xiangyu noticed several people glancing over.

“Wait, Senior Sister, Little Senior Sister, this isn’t that big of a deal!” Lu Xiangyu pressed the girl’s slightly trembling shoulders, getting a bit anxious. “No one is going to blame you for liking Senior Brother Li!” She had a headache—why was she consoling the competition?

“I… I just feel so guilty toward Senior Sister Song. She’s so good to me…” Miao Jiu pulled something out of her satchel—something soft and warm—and pressed it into Lu Xiangyu’s hand.

It was a small blue sachet, embroidered with a stout, cute little tiger.

“Senior Sister Miao, what is this?”

“Senior Sister Song has done so much for me. She’s the one who often takes care of me in the sect so I won’t be lonely.” Miao Jiu looked at Lu Xiangyu with teary eyes. “So, I want to give this to her. When she comes to take you away later, can you help me give it to her?”

“…” Lu Xiangyu went silent for a moment. She pointed at the sachet and asked, “Does that Senior Brother Li have one of these?”

Miao Jiu shook her head violently. She likely still believed Li Wenran and Song Shenshi were a couple, making Song Shenshi both her savior and her romantic rival. The young girl had been agonizing over this contradiction.

“I see.” Lu Xiangyu gripped the sachet and placed a hand on Miao Jiu’s shoulder, flashing a broad smile.

Miao Jiu stared at her blankly. This person looked kind, but for some reason, her smile carried a hint of “wickedness,” as if she were brewing some nefarious plot.

Lu Xiangyu, however, thought the girl was quite pure. She pointed at Senior Brother Li across the plaza.

“Little Senior Sister Miao, liking him makes you suffer extra, doesn’t it? Because his heart belongs to Song Shenshi, and Song Shenshi is your benefactor.” Her finger shifted to point at Song Shenshi, just as the female lead happened to notice them.

“How about this,” Lu Xiangyu swallowed hard, braving an inexplicable sense of danger as she whispered like a thief into Miao Jiu’s ear, “Let’s both go and ‘like’ Senior Sister Song. That way, she won’t be your rival anymore—and Senior Brother Li won’t mind, right?”

Miao Jiu’s eyes gradually widened, as if a door to a whole new world was slowly swinging open in her mind.

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